The Octopus in the Cathedral of Salt is an investigative essay by
Phillip Robertson with pictures by photojournalist
Carlos Villalon on the link between the Chiquita banana company and Colombian paramilitary organization
AUC. Excerpt:
We were drinking Aguilas and the night was winding down and I was half-listening to the conversation. Everyone else had gone downstairs. Carlos turned to me and said, “Is there anything you want to ask him before he goes home?” “I want to know if he heard anything about a shipment of guns that arrived at the Chiquita docks.” Years had passed, but it was worth a shot. “Sure,” Lorenzo said, “I was there. I supervised the unloading of the rifles.” [more inside]
posted by Kattullus
on Sep 25, 2007 -
8 comments
Chiquita Secrets Revealed - On May 3, 1998, the
Cincinnati Enquirer published a series of investigative articles on Chiquita's business practices in South America, all in its own pullout section. The stories claimed the company sprayed workers in the field with pesticides and destroyed a village to stop union activity, among other offenses. A few weeks later, the Enquirer ran
a huge apology on its front page for three days, and paid the company $10 million, because a reporter illegally accessed Chiquita voicemail in the course of his work. The renouncement became
more of a story than the original articles, but one question remains:
are the stories true? To this day, the Enquirer refuses to give a straight answer.
posted by brett
on Sep 7, 2006 -
18 comments
